Doncaster Rovers: Safety-first approach over Coppinger

Relegation-haunted Rovers make the short trip to Valley Parade in the trough of a slump after a wretched haul of three points from a possible 30, with Ferguson severely critical of his side’s display in the 2-0 midweek loss at Scunthorpe United.

They must make do again without club stalwart Coppinger (ankle) while defender Alcock, who missed the defeat at Glanford Park with a muscle strain, is rated 60-40.

Discussing the situation regarding Coppinger, whose experience in likely to be invaluable for Rovers in a tense run-in, Ferguson said: “The plan is for him to be fit for the Peterborough game and he will train next week. It is going according to what we are trying to do.

“He’s had a couple of injections in the ankle and there’s an improvement in there. We will get him on the grass again on Tuesday and he will then hopefully train for the rest of the week and be fit for Peterborough.”

On Alcock, he added: “He’s got a chance. We’d probably say 60-40 in his favour which is an improvement from the other day. He will train tomorrow (Friday).

“He was close for Tuesday, but we feel he’d have a much better chance for the Bradford game. We’ll see how he goes.”